A/N: Ahh, it feels good to revisit old characters like this. Though I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, just to get that out of the way. And yet, yesterday I found myself scouring for some good old YoukoOC/KuramaOC/HieiOC, and found myself gravely disappointed at my own inability to find any good ones. And the REALLY good ones (check out Toki's Satu, by the Sacred Bovine) are in dire need of an update!!

Well, that's just the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it? I fear I've also fallen into this nasty trap -- but perservere I shall!

Read on!

--line--

Revenge: Take One

Criminals, Lupin thought, always return to the scene of the crime.

The black-haired ningen kept a sharp eye on the people that came and went past her incredibly genius hiding place – a couple bushes right next to the patch of sidewalk on which The Incident had taken place some three days earlier. The thought that her victim would return to the scene of his unspeakable crime ran like a mantra through her head, blocking out all the other, much less exciting thoughts that ran through her head, such as 'I'm an idiot for doing this' and 'That bastard, I've skipped two days of school and he still isn't here' and her current Annoying Thought, 'I'm getting a sunburn, and it hurts.'

With a large huff, Lupin rocked back on her heels and tugged irritably on her hat. What a jerk. Here she was, poised to kill him, and he didn't even have the grace to follow proper criminal protocol and return to the scene of the crime. What a stupid jerk. No – a punk, a rebel, if his hair colour was anything to go by.

Lupin growled and crossed her arms. Kids these days.

As though queued by the gods, a large yellow kickball took that moment to plant itself quite firmly in Lupins gut.

The young woman jerked automatically and doubled over, coughing as she grabbed the source of her sudden cough attack and dug her fingernails into it furiously as she stood – this day was not going well at all. Who the hell-,"

"Gyaah!" shouted an alarmed, youthful voice. "Nee-san, why are you hiding in the bushes?!"

Lupin glared irritably at the child on the sidewalk, who stared back with a horrified expression. "Don't call me 'nee-san', short stuff. And keep your ball to yourself next time!"

"'S not my fault you can't catch – meanie!"

Lupin gasped and reared back in mortification. In normal circumstance she would scoff fearlessly in the face of such a word, but she knew well the inner workings of Little Kid Talk, wherein 'meanie' constituted the most dire of insults. She folded her arms and sniffed, wounded. "I hope you don't kiss your kaa-san with that mouth – brat!"

The boy scowled furiously, recognising a challenge when he saw it. With a mangled shout, he grabbed the ball from her hands and hugged it possessively, fixing her with a baleful glare. "Well – girls have cooties, anyways!" he hollered indignantly, before running off down the sidewalk, presumably back to his mother.

Lupin snuffed and adjusted her hat, muttering. The nerve of kids today. There was no way she was that nasty as a child. Ryu maybe – but definately not her! Maybe it was a boy thing. Lupin rolled her eyes to herself and sighed, waving off the air of nostalgia. After a moment, she glanced about her blankly.

Now – what had she been doing...?

It was at that moment Lupin belatedly caught sight of the coffee shop sitting innocently across the street, and all coherent thought melted into a haze of caffeinated, esspresso-desire.

Lupin sighed happily into her cup of mocha goodness five minutes later, sipping contentedly as she stared out the window. All her worries were washed away. And yet, for some reason, it felt as though she were forgetting something important.

Yes, the black-haired girl thought as she eyed the passing stranger on the sidewalk outside. Something important...

Lupin noticed a rather eye-catching figure in a pink – no, magenta uniform with long red hair walking smoothly down the far sidewalk. She took another sip of coffee and hummed to herself, musing on the oddities of the world. Really, in Japan you came across the strangest hair styles, and the shade of red was incredibly –

Wait.

"SONUVABITCH."

Ah, Lupin, always getting distracted aren't you? Tsk, tsk.

I know it's short – but that's okay! By the way, if there are any suggestions you have in terms of what kind of trouble the dynamic duo find themselves in at any time during this series of oneshots, let me know and I'll see what I can do!